President Xi Jinping and his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, met ahead of this years BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization ) summits in the southwestern Russian city of Ufa.
China is willing to strengthen cooperation with South Africa within the mechanism of BRICS, in an effort to better build the BRICS countries, while enabling them to play a constructive role in international affairs, said Xi.
The ties between China and South Africa are at their best time in history, with strong development momentum, he said.
China, Xi said, is willing to enhance coordination and cooperation with South Africa, with special focus on such areas as marine economy, production capacity, special economic zone, energy and finance, so as to translate the bilateral friendship and political mutual trust into tangible cooperation results and better benefit the two peoples.
The year of 2015 marks the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The 2015 meeting of the FOCAC will be hosted in South Africa and co-chaired by both countries.
China is willing to work with South Africa to make the FOCAC meeting a grand gathering for strengthening China-Africa solidarity and charting out the future of their cooperation, said Xi.
Zuma, for his part, agreed with the positive evaluation on South Africa-China ties made by President Xi, saying that the bilateral ties are built on the foundation of high-level mutual trust.
Recalling the important consensus reached by the two countries on deepening bilateral ties during his state visit to China last year, Zuma said the cooperation in marine economy, finance, agriculture, tourism, science and technology and energy are being carried out smoothly based on the plan set by the two sides.
South Africa, said Zuma, appreciates China's long-term and tremendous support to the economic and social development of African countries and its understanding of African countries' positions on major international issues, as well as the great importance it attaches to the FOCAC.
